


The Sandburg Zone

by Yenta49 (KyoKohitsuji)



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Ficlet, M/M, Mild Angst, Pre-Slash, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-31
Updated: 2013-03-31
Packaged: 2017-12-07 02:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/743210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyoKohitsuji/pseuds/Yenta49
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim allows himself to get lost in his senses, or at least his sense of Blair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sandburg Zone

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** _The Sentinel_ and its characters are not mine, unless you count the raging hard-on I have for a certain wild haired anthro post-grad; they belong to Pet Fly and UPN and other people, who are so not me.
> 
> **AN1:** Please forgive the cheesy title and over used plot devices. As usual Jim just wouldn’t listen. This is also my first time delving into the writing half of _The Sentinel_ fandom, I can’t tell you if it will also be my last, but here it is for you to take as you will.  
>  **AN2:** Set post SenToo  
>  **AN3:** Yet another huge, huge set of hugs and thanks to Kyo for allowing me to hijack her AO3 for this.

=========

Jim Ellison drew in a deep, hopefully calming, breath. All of his senses dialed down as low as they could go, save one; the one that allowed him to hear the steady rhythm of his partner’s heart. He’d tuned everything out until all he could hear was his Guide. He knew Blair would be upset with him, concentrating so hard and so long on one sense and risking a zone out when he wasn’t there, but he needed this. He needed to hear each fluttering, pumping flex of the muscle in his chest- the muscle a bullet meant for Jim had come too close to shattering. He needed to hear the soft flow of blood through Blair’s veins and the steady expanding and contracting of his lungs as he breathed.

He took another deep breath and slowly dialed up his touch, feeling the warmth of the hand he held tightly as if his physical touch was the only thing anchoring Blair here. He’d lost him once, he wasn’t doing it again. His body involuntarily tensed at the perfectly etched memory of a cold, dead Blair. With another breath he pushed the memory aside and reached his sense of touch out further, until he could feel every hair on the young man’s arm several inches away. He spared a momentary smile thinking how excited Blair would be if he knew. 

Again he pushed his thoughts away, letting the current of his Guide’s blood under his skin carry him further and further away from any thought, feeling, or sound other than _Blair_. Jim let himself be drawn deeper and deeper into Blair, riding the blood flowing through him as if he was there in Blair’s bloodstream feeling the push and pull of that precious fluid pumping, circulating his body.

Somewhere, a whisper in the back of his mind, he heard Blair’s voice telling him not to zone, not to get lost in his senses. But it wasn’t his senses he was getting lost in- it was Blair. He let his senses carry on their merry way, reassuring himself with every minute sign of Blair’s life.

It could’ve been minutes or it could’ve been hours that he sat there ‘inside’ his Guide, his best friend, his heart, when he felt the change- slow at first; the pressure in Blair’s veins increasing in increments, his breath becoming deeper and deeper, and finally, a surprisingly strong squeeze of Jim’s hand. Slowly, he opened heavy, closed eyes; he hadn’t been able to sit there and watch Blair in the hospital, again, so close to death, again, because of him, again. Jim watched, captivated, as Blair’s hand squeezed his, almost painfully with his senses dialed up so high and still it felt like Heaven. Finally, Blair’s soft voice cut through the remaining haze, a simple plea on his lips, one word- “Jim.” He pulled his eyes up to Blair’s face to meet the perfect sea blue eyes.

“Turn it down, big guy,” Blair whispered, must’ve whispered since Jim heard the direction in Blair’s normal voice, not screaming in his head.

Jim let out a shaky breath and pulled himself away from the comforting ebb and flow of his Guide’s blood. Once the hospital sounds filtered back in and the heat from Blair’s skin was as deep as his touch went, he smiled his soft, endearing smile. “Hey, Chief.”

“Welcome back.” Blair smiled back at him.

“Shouldn’t I be saying that to you?” he said, his thumb running absent circles on Blair’s hand.

Blair chuckled, wincing as it shook the wound in his chest. There was still warm humour in his voice when he said, “Sure, man, sure.”

Jim’s heart fluttered at the brilliant, lively sparkle in Blair’s eyes and he found himself saying, “Love you, Chief.” It was strange, he’d expected to feel apprehension and a weight in his chest after finally speaking the words he’d held onto for far too long, but all he felt was free.

“Jim?” Blair asked; the hope he’d kept out of his voice radiated from his eyes.

“You’re gonna make me say it again, aren’t you?” he groused playfully. Leaning close to his partner, never taking his eyes off his, he spoke very deliberately. “I love you, Blair.”

Blair gulped visibly. “Jim…” He still couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Shut up, Sandburg,” Jim ordered, before leaning over and kissing him softly.

A long, sweet sigh escaped Blair when Jim pulled back. “God, Jim, you have no idea.”

The big man chuckled, lighting up his face. “You’d be surprised, Chief.” He leaned down to place another, less chaste, kiss on his Guide’s full, warm lips. “How about you enlighten me, when you get out of here?”

“Hell, man, get back down here and I’ll start now.”

“You’re impossible, Chief,” he said, but he returned to Blair’s lips; something he was quickly becoming addicted to.

When they finally broke apart, Blair’s hand cupped Jim’s neck holding his head to him. “Jim? In case you missed it, I love you, too.”

Jim darted a quick kiss to Blair’s mouth, chuckling when the young man whimpered when he didn’t deepen the kiss. “I know, Chief.”


End file.
